Click 👉TODAY IN HISTORY (general history) March 19.
ON THIS DAY IN CONFEDERATE HISTORY, March 19.
1863: Confederate Brigadier General [John S.] Bowen reported that morning the sloop-of-war U.S.S. Hartford, with Adm. David G. Farragut on board, and the gunboat U.S.S. Albatross engaged the batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. The two warships were the only two that successfully passed the big guns of Port Hudson, La. on March 14 and they were on their way to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Bowen wrote, "Colonel [William] Wade, commanding the Parrott battery, reserved his fire, as directed until the vessels were nearly opposite his guns. The Hartford kept between the shore and the gunboat. As soon as he opened, the latter made the best possible time around the point, and all the fire was directed against the sloop of war. The firing was accurate, and almost every shot struck the mark, but with what effect could not be perceived. They answered with heavy guns but harmed nothing except a battery flagstaff."
1864: Red River Campaign: While the Confederates continue to concentrate 50 miles from Natchitoches, La., the Federals do the same at Alexandria. On this day the Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. Albert L. Lee arrived. neither Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, commander of the Army of the Gulf, nor Maj. Gen. A.J. Smith has yet to arrive at Alexandria, which continues to delay the campaign and give the Confederates time to concentrate.
CONFEDERATE GENERAL BIRTHDAYS, March 19.
Brigadier General Johnson Kelly Duncan was born on this day in 1827 in York, Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Point in 1849 ranking 5th in his class of 43 cadets. Duncan was breveted a second lieutenant and assigned to the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He was soon promoted to second lieutenant and transferred to the 3rd U.S. Artillery. After seeing some action in the Seminole War in Florida, he served at various posts around the country. Duncan was promoted to 1st Lt. in 1853 and resigned in 1855. In private life, he moved to New Orleans where he became Superintendent of Construction and Repairs and worked closely with Maj. P.G.T. Beauregard of the Army Corps of Engineers on the U.S. Customs House and area forts. Before the war, he served as a captain in the Louisiana State Militia on Gov. T.O. Moore's staff. After Louisiana's secession, he delivered the governor's demand for surrender to the U.S. Arsenal in Baton Rouge. Duncan sided with the South in the war and was made the lieutenant colonel of the 1st Louisiana Regular Artillery Regiment (Regulars), was promoted to colonel in the Confederate Army (regulars) and then to brigadier general on January 7, 1862. Duncan commanded Forts Jackson and St. Philip south of New Orleans on the Mississippi River and other fortifications in the district. He was taken captive on April 28, 1862, and when exchanged, became chief of staff for Gen. Braxton Bragg. Johnson died of malaria on Dec. 18, 1862, at Knoxville, Tenn., and was buried at the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tenn.
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